Less than 10 Brownsboro Junior High School students still had not received their state-required meningococcal vaccinations Tuesday, Principal Yolanda Larkin said.

The seventh-graders are among a group of about 80 who were forced to stay home on the first day of the new school year on Aug. 24 because they had not been vaccinated. Onthe same day, the Texas Department of State Health Services faxed a letter to the Brownsboro Independent School District issuing an "emergency rule" allowing unvaccinated students to provisionally attend classes through Sept. 30.

The declaration applied to seventh-graders and students in grades 8 through 12 who are required to receive vaccinations for meningococcal, tetanus, diptheria, pertussis and varicella. DSHS said at the time the available supply of vaccines in some local clinics had been exhausted because of increased demand.

Starting in April, parents were informed their children had to be vaccinated before Aug. 24 and were notified again about the provisional deadline.

Revisions to immunization requirements this year provide that:

•Students entering 7th grade are required to have one dose of meningococcal vaccine;

•Students entering 7th grade are required to have dose of Tdap only if it has been five years sine their last dose of a tetanus-containing vaccine. Those in grades 8 through 12 are required to have a booster dose of Tdap if it has been 10 years since their previous dose of a tetanus-containing vaccine. Td is acceptable in lieu of Tdap if a contraindication to pertussis exists;

•Students entering kindergarten and 7th grade are required to have two doses of varicella vaccine;

•Students entering kindergarten are required to have two doses of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine;

•Students entering kindergarten are required to have two doses of Hepatitis A vaccine.

This year's seventh-graders will have been fully inocculated by the time they are seniors.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meningitis is an inflammation of membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord, usually caused by a viral or bacterial infection. Viral meningitis is generally less severe and does not require specific treatment. Bacterial meningitis can result in brain damage, hearing loss, or learning disabilities. Pertussis is another name for whooping cough, and varicella refers to chicken pox.